TERRY FOX’S MARATHON OF HOPE ALMOST NEVER CAME THROUGH PARIS

Back in the summer of 1980, Terry Fox, a 21-year-old British Columbia student who was running across Canada to raise money for cancer research, was coming through Southwestern Ontario. Mr. Fox, who had lost his right leg to cancer three years earlier, was expected to arrive in Paris on Tuesday July 15th , 1980, sometime in the morning around 8:00 AM Paris and area had taken Terry Fox to heart and were sure glad that he decided to change his plans to include this region in his cross-Canada “Marathon of Hope.”

His original route was to go north from Toronto but that changed with the numerous letters and invitations he received from area residents. Terry had already covered more than 2,200 miles since he started running in Newfoundland in April. His plan was to reach his hometown of Port Coquitlam, B.C. by November That alone would be a major achievement for any person without the handicap of an artificial limb

Before his death on June 28, 1981, Terry had achieved his once unimaginable goal of raising the equivalent of $1 from every Canadian. More importantly, he had set in motion the framework for an event, The Terry Fox Run, that would ignite cancer research in Canada, raising more than $850 million since 1980, and bring hope and health to millions of Canadians.

The sheer spunk and the noble cause which drives him left little room for doubts whether he would achieve his objective of raising money for cancer research. Along the route Canadian Cancer Society units were collecting pledges for the run. Mr. Fox entered the area on Highway 2 coming from Ancaster and running along Colborne Street West, Dalhousie Street, Brant Avenue, Paris Road, and along to Paris. In the evening after running through Paris he was driven back to the Holiday Inn for a reception and presentation in Brantford On July 16th , he was driven back to where he finished running the previous day to continue on his journey. Mr. Fox always tried to complete 30 miles a day with two breaks during the day. A van driven by Doug and Daryl Alward, Mr Fox's friends was always nearby and would accept spontaneous donations along the route Cancer society officials were asking the general public not to stop or try to talk to Mr. Fox because of the concentration he needed to continue.

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